JustJames

Well shanksh!

No. I have had Halco's that have swum skew, so my preference is Rapala X Rap Magnum in various sizes/depths. I have found the 15cm-ish ones work really well. Great idea, which I will definitely try, thanks Frank.

Over the years I have become increasingly keen on trolling lures as a way to catch fish. I have caught many tailor, more bonito, some kingfish and one amberjack in Sydney Harbour and around the Heads, venturing as far north as Long Reef. Even on doughnut days, I tell myself it’s nice to be out on the water. I mostly believe it to be true. But nothing sets the pulse racing like the sound of a rod’s ratchet buzzing into life as a lure is taken. Before a lure can catch a fish, it has to catch a fisherman. I have always chosen lures that look like prey species to me, thinking that if I think it looks like a snack for a hungry bitey fish, the hungry bitey fish will think so too. So I have favoured blue/white/silvery coloured trolling lures, with the occasional Qantas model thrown in. But mostly it’s been pilchard style lures that I have found success with. And I have found that trolling at 5 knots is very productive. So that is what I have done…trolled fishy looking diving lures at a steady 5 knots. Recently I went fishing with one of my brothers. Reverently he revealed his lure of choice. A Halco redhead, but instead of a white or silver body, this one had a gold body. And not a chrome gold, but a metal flake, sparkly gold. It looked like it had been designed by a five year old off his chops on unlimited red lollies. “Bro, this lure is DEADLY!” he informed me, “I have seen fish swimming across the wake, ignoring other lures in their eagerness to get at this lure!”. I wasn’t convinced, and even though I am not very polite by nature, it was his boat we were on, and I didn’t fancy walking home so I kept my counsel. And tried not to look too smug as I deployed my tried and tested pilchard lure. For the rest of the morning, one fish after another ignored my realistic looking lure with holographic this, true-to-life that, translucent next and smashed my brothers hallucinogenic representation of a fish’s fever dream. That lure is a Halco diver in H78 Redneck. It’s no longer available. There were 2 (two) still available on the ‘Bay, and I bought them both. The closest currently available colour is H70 King Brown. Think sunburnt pilchard covered in gold glitter. I am pretty sure it was designed by the same red lolly addict. This weekend I gave it a try. In a short troll around the cliffs between North Head and Manly (in the middle of the day) it caught two rat kings and for a while, something else took the lure but was able to escape. And here’s the other weird bit. One of the rat kings was caught while the boat was just idling forward while I despatched a bonito. The other was caught within seconds of the lure being thrown into the water. My takeaway from all of this is that fish don’t always think the way that we think they do. Maybe a flashy, bright lure will get a reflex bite even more effectively than a lure that physically resembles prey. And trolling slower may be something to try from time to time, especially if the sounder is showing fish but they aren’t taking a lure.

Strong "Old Man and The Sea" vibes from this story! M doesn't by any chance stand for M-ingway does it Noel?

Mutt, from your post earlier today, it reads as though your mechanic has carried out a service, but nothing to specifically address the engine's issue. This is not to disrespect what your mech has done...a service will get the basics right which is a good starting point, but now he needs to try and understand what is going wrong after running for a while. In any field, the key to solving a problem is to be able to re-create the problem on demand. If you can, rig up a tank so that you can re-create the problem. Run the motor, in gear, at x rpm for y minutes. To do this you will need a large enough tank to be able to do this on your driveway. I wouldn't run a motor at more than moderate revs with ear muffs,

That's still cheaper than fish you catch. Those free meals are prolly the most expensive food you can eat!

I've been having fun making my own small silvery lures which I have yet to try out. They should appeal to many hungry fishes...

The error is in the article. The tricksy difference between BC and AD. It amused me to read that the Egyptians had discovered fishing about 20 years ago, and that the Chinese have another 1,000 years to wait.

That article says: "By 2000 A.D. the Egyptians were fishing with rods, lines and hooks, a level of sophistication that the Chinese would not match for a thousand years" I suspect that the Egyptians were using rods lines and hooks long before 2000AD....and a look on AliExpress gives the lie to the second claim!

Delighted with mine so far. It had around 36 hours on it when I got it, but about 10 years, and I don't know what the service history was on it. It looked very much like this was its first fuel filter. I have a service kit on order with all of the things, so it will get oil and filter, impeller and gear oil.

That's an interesting suggestion. I used some oil on the seal and the o-ring, and I think that the old filter had stuck to the housing via the rubber seal, but I will definitely use that suggestion next time I tackle the job.

Some feedback.... As ever, the seemingly simple jobs take all of the effort. My Ebay setup arrived, and looked acceptable. For around $30 I bought a fuel filter with clear bowl attached to a filter head. The filter looked unremarkable, but I preferred to have a branded filter, which I bought from one of the big retailers for this sort of thing. Easy peasy I thought, I'll just take the old fuel filter off and fit the new filter (with bowl) and all will be well in the world. The old filter would not budge. I used a filter removal tool with a socket wrench and all I could do was dent the old filter. It wouldn't budge. Not even when I used the strongest words that I know. So I ended up using the new filter head. And I needed to raise the filter by a few cm to allow the bowl to fit. I used a piecce of 5mm alu, which I attached to the boat in the same site as the original filter head was installed. The spare connection points (the brass bits on the left below) needed some thread sealing, because after running the engine, the residual pressure was causing some fuel seepage which is not ideal. Although the filter installation looks very exposed in the pic, the rear bench seats form a barrier between the deck and this part of the boat so it will be completely tucked away when in use. Thanks to all who weighed in with suggestions.

If anybody is interested, the original article is here: https://theconversation.com/a-monster-eddy-current-is-spinning-into-existence-off-the-coast-of-sydney-will-it-bring-a-new-marine-heatwave-216625

Great report, great pics, cracker fish! How far offshore did you have to go to find the warmer water?

If anybody is interested in how Merkin English came to be different from English English (or vice versa, as the case may be), I can heartily recommend Made In America by Bill Bryson. It's amusing, informative and also gives a brief history of the US of A.

Rain is not an issue. Keep your speed appropriate to visibility though. The good thing about boating in the rain is that the boat ramp will be quiet.

I honestly don't know what "normal" is for that temperature map. I have been screenshotting it into a single document since July so I can see the warm water coming, but I don't have any knowledge of what usual progress looks like. I do know that in high summer, it's pretty much all orange. Also, in science-y terms, a water temperature of 1 deg C over normal is a MAHOOSIVE rise.

You are talking about a bunch for whom today, November the second 2023 is written as 11/2/23...y'know, for clarity.

Four zero Four null Four nothing Four slash I'm just here to help.

Well if you want to get to there, I wouldn't start from here if I was you!

The same way you would have done in the days before all of this great technology. Use any or all of: Road signs Landmarks Stop and ask a person (just kidding...no self respecting bloke has EVER done this)

Interesting topics raised. My parents are both heading towards 80. My dad is across all the tech, always wants the latest phone and enjoys the gadgetry. My mum regards it all with distrust and trepidation. I keep telling her that it's just a machine, like a toaster. Keep prodding it and pushing it to make it do what you want it to do...you can't break it! Modern cars pack an incredible amount of tech, but I really wonder what will become of them when so much that they have is un-repairable when it goes t!ts up. Good luck getting a replacement touch screen for a car that is more than 10 years old. On the other hand, in my garage I have a car that I have a good chance of living to see reach its hundredth birthday (not my daily driver). Very little on it that can't be fixed with a pair of pliers and some baling wire!

GPS tells you where you are on the planet, but just shows blankness around you. Maps (charts) show you stuff that is around where you are.. My fishfinder has a corrupted Navionics card. My marks are stored on the unit, so I can navigate to them because it knows where it is on the planet....the GPS still works just fine. But without the chart, it doesn't show me what is around me. I like knowing about shallow reefs in unfamiliar areas, and knowing where the cliffs that I troll against are deep where they meet the ocean, or if I need to be careful...some of my deep divers dive to 10 or 12 metres, so I might need to be careful. I will be getting a new Navionics card so that I can see what is around me. Both the orange store and the blue store are currently having click frenzy sales.

It looks like both the major Aussie retailers that cover this sort of thing are preparing for a 'Click Frenzy' online sale, so it may be worth having a sniff around to see if there are any deals to be had.

On my previous boat I installed a Lowrance Hook Reveal with a 9" screen. Current boat has a Lowrance Hook (prev model) with a 7" screen. I've been happy with the Lowrance units, but I miss the larger screen. It's especially handy for splitting between GPS and sounder. Your $500 budget will likely limit you to 5" units. If you can, stretch to a larger screen. 7" is bearable, but I wouldn't want to go any smaller.